Blacknight, the leading Irish web hosting company, has announced its entry into the home broadband market, and the expansion of its business broadband services nationwide.
The company says it has also developed a reseller platform which will enable regional IT companies to sell broadband.
The Carlow company introduced new website and online retail services last year in response to the pandemic, and says it has seen a rise in demand for server co-location in their data centres, as well as Microsoft 365.
CEO Michele Neylon (pictured) commented: “Historically we’ve focused on the business market and we’ve provided business fibre in Carlow and Kilkenny for several years. We also provide wireless internet in rural Carlow.
“The events of the past year have softened the distinction between home and business. As we welcomed new customers and introduced new products for websites and online retail, it was clear to us that companies need to connect their staff as well as reach their customers.”
Working with infrastructure providers including SIRO and Eir, Blacknight offers fibre broadband at speeds up to 1Gbps for both home and business users. Larger enterprises can avail of dedicated internet access at speeds up to 10Gbps, with point-to-point connections between multiple sites, or directly into Blacknight’s data centre locations in Carlow and Dublin.
Neylon describes Blacknight broadband as a premium service. “As a web host, we’ve built our reputation on customer service and the fact that we’ve got real people at the end of the phone line. Our experience shows that SMEs, in particular, value this kind of service.”
The company is offering a 15% discount on business broadband plans for existing customers.
“Our strategy over the last few years has been to expand into offering a full suite of internet services to SMEs,” Neylon added. “Small businesses don’t have the resources to employ an IT department. It makes sense to outsource these functions, preferably to a single supplier who understands their needs.”
Details on Blacknight’s retail broadband services, and its reseller programme, are at blacknight.com/broadband.